Lay Counseling/Speaking

Book Review

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and again the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Ephesians 6:12

Arm Yourself

Equipping Ourselves with the Armor of God, by Michelle Moore

In her book, Michelle takes you through Ephesians 6 on an exploration of the armor of God. She includes personal stories and Scripture as she looks at each piece of protection the Lord has given to His children.

I appreciated her sharing the wise advice from her grandmother on exploring our hearts and situation when undergoing spiritual warfare. She used the acronym H.A.L.T. When feeling attacked, ask yourself if you are Hungry, Angry, Lonely or Tired. As she explains, these are all key moments of weakness for all of us.

I likewise appreciated her adding the “Robe of Love” to our arsenal. She uses Colossians 3:14 “…And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” She explains that if you look at pictures of Roman soldiers, you will also see a robe underneath the pieces of their armor. She wisely declares that like our witness, our armor is useless without love.

She uses 1 Corinthians 13 from “The Message” to illustrate this point.

“If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all His mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t have love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love. Love never gives up…Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompleteness will be canceled…But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.”